The road less traveled.....

It's that time of year again for school to start. It's time for the kids to get their minds occupied again. We are taking a different route to school this year. The school with out brick and mortar walls. Yes, we are going to home school this year. It has been a tough decision and not one made in haste. The kids were involved in the decision and were totally for it. After looking at all the options this seemed to be the best.

We have had a good run at public school and may very well go back next year, but we had to do something different this year. The program that we have chosen is actually through the school district called the Wyoming Virtual School. The district hosts the K12 virtual school program. All the curriculum is chosen for us and they give us a basic lay out of scheduling. The kids can work at own pace to some extent. After each unit of study they are required to take an assessment test which they have to pass with an 80% or they have to go over the material and take the test again. They call it a 'mastery' program.

So what has brought us to this point? A long list of things. Our first issue is busing. It is not just the fact that the kids are 2 1/2 hrs a day on the bus, but it's what happens on the bus. We could have worked around that, but Kalen is having a load of issues at school. Inadequate help with her learning disabilities, bullying and other social issues. Did I mention bullying? What was the reason corporal punishment was taken out of the school system? Yeah, I'm pretty hard about it. It's pretty heart breaking when your kid comes home from school and she has spent the day having two kids in the class tell everyone she pooped her pants. Or when she asked questions like 'why are the kids so mean to me' or 'why do the kids think I'm so weird'. She also got called a 'retard' because went to special ed for math. My last call to the school went something like 'you need to take care of it or I will.' I wish I would have used that line in the beginning because it was pretty effective.

Then there was the group of girls that Kalen was involved with. She was friends with them just to have someone. They were not top quality friends. Some days they liked her and some days they didn't. Or there was the girl on the bus that was her friend on the bus, but at school Kalen wasn't allowed to talk to her.

We are scared for Kalen. What other kids think of you and how they treat you can stay with you all your life. Along with Kalens self esteem being trashed we feel like we are running out of time on teaching her math skills that are life skills.

We will see where this year takes us. This was Kalens last year in elementary school. We thought if we could pull her out for the year and possible put her back in 7th when she would go to jr. high where there would be more kids that didn't like her it might work. But we will take it one day at a time.

If your wondering, we have not joined a cult, we are not getting ready for a revolution, we aren't growing all our own food or growing our hair long. I know that homeschoolers are stereotyped. I've stereotyped them myself. I said I would never homeschool, but then again I said I would never have children. I need to stop saying 'never' about things. It's amazing the number of people that homeschool. Of all the guys that Mark works with five of them have school age children and now there is only one that does not homeschool.

I guess everyday is a new adventure.

Cat Boy

This is a Kaleb Chance story. Some days that child............. Kaleb loves cats. We had several litter of kittens at the barn last spring. For the most part the barn cats are wild. Ferrel cats. I like to keep it that way, but cat boy Kaleb has his own idea's about it. Kaleb loves feeding the cats and I have noticed that he has been trying to make a pet out of a little black and white kitten.

This morning Kaleb wanted to go do the chores at the barn with me. I needed to take the tractor to put a bale of hay out, so Kaleb got on the 4 wheeler (which I usually take) and eased it down to the barn. We went in and fed grain and Kaleb was in the granary feeding the cats and said he was going to stay for a few minutes. I have a 2.5 gallon bucket that I carry grain in to the horses in the paddock south of the house on the 4 wheeler. So I had put the grain in it and on the way out of the barn I strapped it down to the front rack on the 4 wheeler (that is where I always carry it). I went about putting out hay with the tractor and I saw Kaleb head for home on the 4 wheeler. He is only allowed to drive it in first gear, so he was creeping pretty slow going home. I thought he was going to wait for me at the gate to the horse paddock or at least leave my bucket of feed by the game for me, but he didn't, he went on home. I drove home in the tractor and got on the 4 wheeler and went back to the paddock and put out grain. When I got home I walked into the garage and the kids were in there. Kalen is in a panic because 'the kitten' has went behind the freezer and they can't get it out. I said "what kitten?" I should have guessed, but I will admit I'm a little slow.

Yes, Kaleb had brought his little black and white kitten home. I asked "how did the kitten get to the house?" He tried telling me that the kitten followed him home. I'm not that stupid. Then Kalen informs me that the kitten jumped in the grain bucket and came home with Kaleb. O.k. she might buy that story, I did not. Sometimes that boy can tell some 'big stories' or he should I say he can lie with the best of 'em. I told him to give it up, I wasn't buying any of his stories. Believe it or not he put that kitten in the grain bucket and it rode home on the 4 wheeler in it. He then took the kitten into the garage.

The story ends with the kitten coming out from behind the freezer. I made Kaleb caught it and we put it in a basket and cover it and carried back to the barn. And then the punishment began.

That kid............................

Wylie and the Wild West

Over the last few years Mark has become a fan of 'Cowboy Music'. Cowboy music is not to be confused with country music. Cowboy music is about cowboys, horses and the western way of life. You won't hear it on the radio. Slowly I got drug along and I'm a fan of Cowboy Music too.

One night last winter we were watching "The Ride With Aaron Ralston" on RFD TV (I actually think Mark was asleep on the couch with me). There is always a music video at the end of his show of some 'Cowboy Music' singer and that night it was Wylie and the Wild West. After the show was over I 'googled' Wylie and found he had some youtube video's and a website. So, over several days Mark and I watched youtubes and got hooked. On his website www.wylieww.com we noticed that he would be performing in Sheridan and knew we had to go. We took off yesterday afternoon and went to the Wylie and The Wild West show in Sheridan. It was great. He played for an hour and took a twenty minute break to sign autographs and came back and entertained for another hour. It was a heck of a good time.

If you have any interested in watching youtube to see what kind of music we are into, the first video you should watch is "The Yodeling Fool" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPaoJv-NrEU&feature=PlayList&p=B38F05EEB553C24E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5. (Or just go to youtube.com and do a search for Wylie and the Wild West). He tells a little bit about himself and its pretty funny. You knew the commercial for "Yahoo", Wylie made that up 'Yahoo' yodel for them. Other favorites are "Whoop Up Trail", Kaleb and I like that. Marks favoritive is "A Good One", Wylie also shows cutting horses and this song is about his favorite horse. I also like "The Gather", its about the fall gather of cows and calves. There are quite a few songs about Montana. Wylie grew up close to Glacier Park in MT on a ranch.

Hope you enjoy it!!!

Chicken Spagetti and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Chicken spagetti, it sounds 'ick' doesn't it. That's what I thought when I read the name of it. I thought about changing it's name, but couldn't think of anything. The first time I made it and the kids asked "what's for supper" and I said 'chicken spagetti', they were really unsure. Then Mark calls on his way home from work, he asked "what's for supper" and I said "chicken spagetti" and the phone when dead. Not real. I told him to trust me, he would like it. The skeptical bunch loves 'chicken spagetti' and they asked for it. Well, Kaleb asked for 'chicken pasgetti'. I knew they would love it, they need to learn to trust me. I motified the original recipe, it called for cream of mushroom soup. I don't even buy it, my family would protest. I changed it to cream of chicken soup.

So heres the recipe for it. It's a two meal casserole for our family, so you may want to cut it in half.

Chicken Spagetti

2 c. cooked chicken (chopped or shredded)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. onion (optional)
3 c. dry spagetti (broken into 2 inch pieces)
2 c. chicken broth
1 t. Lawry's seasoning
1/8 - 1/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

If you boil the chicken in water, save the broth to cook the noodles in, or use chicken broth or just water to cook spagetti until al dente (don't overcook). Combine 2 c. cheese, soup, onion, lawry's and cayenne pepper together in bowl and mix. Add chicken and spagetti when it is cooked, add enough chicken broth until the mixture is a little soup. I personally think 1 cup is enough. Place in 9x13 baking dish, place remaining cheese on top, cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350.

While I'm on a roll I will give you a cookie recipe I have also. Kaleb came home from school one day and told me that one of the kids moms have made them peanut butter oatmeal cookies. He wanted to know if I could make some. I surfed the net and found a recipe that I thought would be all right. Of course as the story of my life goes, I went to make them and I didn't have all the flour required, so I substituted the missing flour with more oatmeal. They turned out so good, I changed the recipe to the way I made them.

This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

2 c. shortening (I like butter flavored crisco)
2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. white sugar
4 eggs
2 c. peanut butter
4 t. soda
1 t. salt
1 c. flour
5 c. oatmeal
1/2 - 1 c. heath chips (0ptional)

Cream shortening and sugars, add eggs, sift flour and soda and gradually add along with salt, once mixed gradually add oatmeal.

Bake for 8 minutes at 350.

I have never tried chocolate chips with them, but I bet they would be good.

I guess you know what's for supper at my house tonight and what I'm taking along as a snack to the horse show in Douglas tomorrow.

Mo and Yellow Cat

First off, the horse Tom, that is the mare Tom, got a name change. I couldn't do "Tom" for a mare, it didn't fit, it didn't work. So I begged, pleaded and bribed Mark to change it. Of course he changed it because he knew I would call her whatever I wanted anyway. So "Tom" is now "Mo". It wouldn't be my pick, but I can live with it.

Yellow Cat (from the pictures below, you will see we didn't spend as much time with his name as we did Mo's) is one of the barn cats. He isn't really tame, but he isn't wild either. You could probably pet him, but that's the extent of his relationship with people. Yellow Cat will convince you that cats have nine lives because he does things around the horses that should have gotten him killed a long time ago. He likes to eat grain with the horses. He walks the manager and will rub on the horses necks and get in their feed box and eat with them.

Yellow Cat has started hanging out at the arena and round pen. The other night Mark was working with Mo in the round pen and I guess Yellow Cat thought he needed help, so he joined in the fun. Mo didn't seem to mind.

Yellow Cat at a safe distance.
Yellow Cat testing his luck.

Yellow Cat with a death wish.

Off to the races

You might wonder what kind of entertainment you can find in our little part of the world on a Saturday in the summer. It would surprise you. Today was the Annual Dachshund Derby. This happens every year at the end of county fair and its a fund raiser for the Humane's Society. So we made it a date with our 'wiener friends' as we like to call them and attended the derby. They had a 'hot dog' feed and for $2.00 a bottle you could buy Dachshund Root Beer. I bet you had no idea that Gillette could be that exciting.

They ran two heats of 'Little Sizzlers' and a brown dapple named Charlie won. Then they ran the Oscar Meyer bunch and a big 'ol dachshund that weighed 25 lbs. won. Then they had the 'Old Brautwerst' bunch go. There were long hairs, short hairs, black & tan, pi colored, tans, browns, dapples, one funky color I had never seen before there. There were a lot more wieners there than actually raced. The surprising thing about the Dachshund Derby is the number of people that show up, There had to be 300-400 people there.

Our 'wiener friends' dachs is 13 and wouldn't handle the crowd so she stayed home. We took Daisy Dachs and she was not happy about it. When we left home without Roo Dog in the pickup she was uneasy. There is a reason why we call Daisy, "freaky chic", she can be a timid and fussy little thing and for the most part does not like people other than her family. So she sat on my lap and Kalebs lap thru the races and acted like the whole thing was beneath her. She was happy to leave.

This is Roo. Doesn't she just look like a good dog? Well she is. She is obedient, kind and loyal and rarely causes problems. There aren't many like her.

Mark and Daisy have a weird relationship. I don't even know what to say about this picture other than this is not an unusual position for the two of them.

I would not call Daisy a good dog, but she is totally devoted to me. I took this last winter as she was sunning herself on the top of Mark's computer case on the fireplace. It takes a lot to get a dachs to hot.